Although a number of methods exist for retaining eyeglasses of all varieties, including but not limited to sunglasses, safety glasses or the like (collectively “eyeglasses”), they may require a alteration of the hat or cap, they require the user to slide the ear piece of the glasses into a holder, they are made from multiple materials and/or they non uniform shape. The current art provides for clips that are rectangular or possible t-shaped. The current art will not work with all styles of ear pieces be they wire or plastic.
There is a need in the art for an improved clip design that can be used by all styles of ear piece such as but not limited to wire or plastic, that provides for varies shapes such as but not limited to rectangular, square, round, semi-circular, or oblong.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,059, Morris teaches a substantially planar circular member eye glass fastener, fabricated of resilient plastic material or light weight metal alloy, a composite, a laminate or combinations thereof. The '059 patent teaches that a soft foam or plastic insert is optionally used to contact to the sunglass arm. Without this insert, the planar nature of the Morris fastener renders it inapplicable to various eyeglass designs, as the fastener will not optimally grip both thin- and thick-eyeglass arms. Additionally, the insert has the potential to deform over time, taking the shape of the eyeglasses used in it such that it becomes other less-than-optimal or entirely not useful for other eyeglass types.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,426, Morris teaches eye glass holders for securing to hats or fabric. The '426 fastener is similar to that in the '059 patent, one difference being that the '426 device comprises a fixed fastener design, wherein said fastener design has a broad Y-shaped insertion point. However, the design disadvantages of the '059 patent remain, namely, that the insert material is needed to accommodate all eyeglass types.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,874, Simpson discloses an implement holder to be attached to a cap or hat. The holder has the general shape of an U-shaped channel. The members which immobilize the pencil in the '874 patent are substantially planar and are thus suffer from the same disadvantage of the '059 patent of Morris. As a result, the '874 device is not amenable to accommodate pencils of different sizes. The pencil holder of Allen described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,103 uses the same U-shape geometry. The Allen device suffers from the disadvantage that it is limited to use with objects having the size of a standard pencil. Objects appreciably smaller would not be held in place while those appreciably larger would likely not fit. Again, these devices fail to accommodate objects having variable shapes and sizes.
Thus there is a need in the art for an improved clip design that can be used by all styles of ear piece such as but not limited to wire or plastic, that provides for varies shapes such as but not limited to rectangular, square, round, semi-circular, or oblong.